Rotary transfer assembly



Jan. 2, 1945'. K. HANSEN 2,366,615

ROTARY TRANSFER ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 28, 1942 4 I 7/ 3 I INVENTOR KRISTIAN HANSEN ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 2, 1945 ROTARY TRANSFER ASSEMBLY Kristian Hansen, Louisville, Ky., assignorto himselfand Arthur E. Robert, Louisville, Ky.

Application October 28, 1942," Serial No. 463,721

(01. lee-211) I 7 Claims. In' one-well =k'nownform of device for cutting and packaging printsofbutter; a conveyor'feeds one end of a ribbon-likeslab of butter over the stationary platform of a cutter "and into a momentarily stationary transfer assembly. When a portion of themoving slab; equallinga quarter pound print, is=deposited onthetransfer'assembly; the cutteroperatesto sever'that print from the slab. Immediately thereafter the" transfer invention relates to improvements intransfer assemblies 7 of this general 1 character;

Ordinary machines-2 of this general character havean efficiency approximating 75%, that is tosay;that if they have a. rated 'capacityfor handling say1500 pounds' or 6000 quarter pound prints per hour, they will produce approximately 1125: satisfactory-pounds 'or 4500 prints-per hour when operated: at rated-capacity! The failure to produce 6000 pri-nts: is: due to various causes ineludingv imperfecthoperation of ="the transfer as.- sembly: Thevtran'sfeu assembly must: hold the printtin one more orless exact position if the print: lST=t0T beerhandled properly by the elevator. Ordinarily the print is' properly deposited on the transfer assembly: Howeveniin rotating the print 9.0? itiis sometimes-zthrown' outcof theexact posi tion;-t Whem this? occurs if the; elevator does not move-into thealnecessary fiuslr engagement with the print. As a result, the print is either muti-. lated or improperly delivered: to. r and wrapped'iby the packaging? unitror both necessitating, after the,entireapoundzcontamingathatprintzisswrapped;

an stoppagea of r machine: to permit the removal; of: thatrponnd'z and the cleaning: of the machine; if t necessaryr, Necessarily, those oper ating, difiicultiess: are-1 magnified when the ma- Another important object is to provide-"animproved-transfertassembly which holds the? print in its a propempositionzsozefiectively thattit 'not only substantially increases theoverall efliciency of the machine, when it is operating at its rated capacity, but makespossible avery substantial increase in the capacity rating without sacrificing any appreciable part of the newly won gain in efficiency.

Another important object of the invention is tdprovide a simple and inexpensive improvement which maybe easily incorporated in new machines at the factory or on old machines in the field Without requiring any change in the design of the machine.

An embodiment oftheinventionis illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a transfer assembly, embodying the invention, inrelation to the conveyor, cutter and elevator at a time when the butter is moving into the assembly and before the print is severed;

Figure. 2 is a sectionon line 2-2 of Figure 1 but showing the conveyor and elevator in elevation; t

Figure 3 corresponds to Figure 2 but shows the relation of the parts at the moment a print is severed but before the assembly rotates, the cam wheels being omitted for the sake of clearness';

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one part of the transfer assembly in which the invention. is embodied; and t Figure 5 isa sectional view of a modification of: the holding fingers taken" on a line correspond.-

The structure illustrated is of thetypedisclosed in U. S. Patent #2302371 granted Nov. 17, 194:2, and, as illustrated, conventionally includesa conveyor 0, cutter platform P, cutter K, transfer assembly T and elevator E. A presently marketed device of this type functions to cut and package quarter pound prints of butter dimensioned 1%; x 1 x 4%.

The transfer assembly T conventionally comprises: a rotary support in the form of a drive shaft l carryinga pair of transfer wheels 2 which are. spaced axially along the shaft a distance '(between centers) slightly less than the length of a print; a succession of (four) print holders carried by, and forming a part of, each wheel 2, with their radial centers angularly spaced apart, each holder being in the form of a pair of fingers It and 4 on one transfer wheel 2 and a correspondingpair on the other wheel and each pair of fingers being arranged to define aperipherally-op'en print-receiving space and teengage opposite sides ofa print in said space, each of the: fingers 4 being pivotally mounted on the holder.

.4500 and 6000 prints.

finger 3 of the next adjacent pair for movement from the print-engaging position inwardly to a clearanceposition; and a cam-controlled fingermoving mechanism along the outer side of each transfer wheel 2, each mechanism being in the form of a cam roller 5 extending laterally outward from the outer side of each finger 4 into the cam guideway 6 of the adjacent stationary cam member 1 which extends around this shaft l but does not rotate with it.

In operation, the conveyor C, which carries the ribbon-like slab of butter (dimensioned 1 pound. As soon as the slab iscut, the transfer assembly is rapidly operated to rotate each holder a quarter of a revolution. In this manner the severed or first print is positioned along the upward path of the continuously reciprocating elevator E and, at the same time, the next print holder is positioned to receive the next print. As this last mentioned print holder moves toward the print-receiving position, the cam mechanisms momentarily retract the fingers 4 inwardly sufficiently to clear'the end of the butter slab and the adjacent cutting unit but, as soon as they are cleared, the fingers 4 are quickly returned to their normal outer position, The transfer assembly stops when the next print holder reaches the print-receiving position and remains stationary for an interval long enough to permit the conveyor C to feed the second print to it. During this interval the elevator E lifts the first print upwardly from the transfer assembly and delivers it to a packaging unit, which .wraps and cartonsthe butter, and then returns to its original lowered position from which it will move to repeat its cycle of operation.

If, during the rotation of a print holder from the print-receiving to the print-releasing position, a print on that holder remains in its deposited position, such print normally will be properly engaged by the elevator E. On the other hand,

if the print is thrown or moved one way or an- .other during such rotation, it is almost certain to be engaged improperly by the elevator E and,

as a consequence, either mutilated or improperly delivered to the packaging unit or both necessitating in any such event a shut-down to effect its removal. At the present time it may be said that the equivalent of 1 out of ever 16 prints handled by the machine is. thrown by the transfer assembly.

Actually under normal operating conditions ,less than 1 print in 16 is thrown by the assembly.

The lesser number of prints thrown is considered the equivalent of 1 in 16 for at least two reasons. In the first place, the rated capacity of 6000 prints per hour is based on continuous operation but the stoppages, occasioned by the throwing of prints prevents the machine from handling 6000 prints per hour. As a result of these stoppages, its actual capacity is reduced to a figure between 1 print is thrown, the machine must nevertheless In the second place, when that print and then that pound must be discarded even though it contains 3 prints which were not thrown. The net effect of throwing only 1 print in 1 pound is, so far as the loss of butter is concerned, the same as if all 4prints were thrown. This further reduces the actual capacity approximately to the 4500 prints or 1125 by the assembly and indent its surface without at p the same time seriously mutilating the print.

" I impale the prints by piercing them as they enter- Accordingly, in carrying out one embodiment'of the invention, thetransfer assembly is provided with rod-like projections or pins 8 positioned to the print holders. Any suitable number of pins 8 maybe employed. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-4,. three pins are arranged at each end of each print holder, two of the pins being mounted directly on the finger l and one on the transfer wheel 2, the latter pin being arranged adjacent the finger-4. p

The effectiveness of my invention maybe demonstrated by reference. to the operation of a machine having a manufacturers rated capacity of 6000 quarter. pound prints per hour. As stated previously, such a machine, 1 operated at full capacity without the invention, will normally .have an efficiency of 75% so that it produces 4500 satisfactory prints per hour. vention applied, I have, found that: the same machine, operating at rated capacity, will have an efiiciency of 94 to 96%, producing between 5600 and, 5800 satisfar tory prints per hour. With two pins mounted on each finger 4, the rated capacity may be raised to asmuch as 9000 prints per hour wit-h the efiiciency remaining at, 94 to 96%., When a third pin ismounted directly on the transfer wheel as shown, the rated capacity may be increased to at least 9600 prints per hour and 4' provided with ridges 9 positioned to indent opposite sides of the print. With this embodiment the rated capacity of the same machine may be raised to 8800 prints per hour with an efficiency of 94 to 96%. There appears to be a tendency-however, in thisembodiment for butter to collect on the fingers which tendency does not noticeably appear in embodiments using the pins 8. i

Since my invention raises the eficiency of the machine from 75% to 94-96% and since that same efiiciency is obtained at capacities ranging substantially above the present rated capacity, it would appear that the inefficiency of the transv fer assembly is entirely corrected by my'invenbe operated to wrap the entire pound containing tion and that the remaining inefiiciency of the machine is due to the improper functioning of'its other parts. 1

While the invention has been. described and With my inprints of butter and the like comprising: .a rotatable support; and print holding means mounted on said support for print transferring movement,

when the support is rotated, from a print reoeiving position to a print removal position, said means having projections positioned to indent the surface of a print in order to resist the tendency of the assembly to throw the print during the print transferring movement.

2. A rotary assembly for transferring prints of butter and the like comprising: a rotatable support; print holders mounted on said support for print transferring movement, when the support is rotated, from a print receiving position to a 4. The assembly defined in claim 2 wherein said indenting means include ridge-like projections positioned on said holders to engage opposite sides of a print thereon.

5. A rotary assembly for transferring prints of butter and the like comprising: a rotatable support; print holders mounted on said support for print transferring movement, when the support is rotated, from a. print receiving position to a print removal position; and pins carried by said support in position to impale a print by piercing it inorder to resist the tendency of the assembly to throw the print during the print transfer movement.

6. A rotatable transfer assembly for receiving a print of butter and the like severed from a horizontally approaching slab and rotationally transferring it into the path of an upwardly moving elevator which removes the print from the holder comprising: a rotatable support; a U- shaped print holder mounted on said support for print transferring movement, when the support is rotated, from a horizontally-open print-receiving position to an upwardly-open print-removal position; and print indenting means carried by said support and associated with said holders, said means presenting projections which extend into the print-receiving space, embraced by the holder, in a direction parallel to the path of movement of, a print entering and leaving the holder so as to indent the surface of a print on the holder in order to resist the tendency of the assembly to throw the print during the print transferring movement.

'7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein said indenting means include pins which project into the print-receiving space of the holder and toward its open end so as to impale the print by piercing it.

KRISTIAN HANSEN. 

